Henderson to direct 'Lennon'

The Department of Theatre & Dance will present
“Forgiving John Lennon” Feb. 27 through March 3, in the
Black Box Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and at
2 p.m. on Sunday.

Directed by faculty member Stephen McKinley Henderson and
written by William Missouri Downs, “Forgiving John
Lennon” is best described as a serious comedy written as an
homage to Somali-Dutch feminist activist and writer Ayaan Hirsi
Ali, who in 2005 was named among the “Most Influential People
in the World” by Time magazine. It shows how our attempts at
tolerance and inclusion often can appear comic to those whose very
lives depend on these issues.

The play is about Joseph and Katie, two progressive professors
at a small liberal arts college. The president of the college
has mandated that all professors do more to promote cultural
diversity. It soon becomes a competition between rival
departments to see who can invite to campus the most diverse artist
or speaker.

Joseph and Katie’s guest artist is a female African poet
from Somalia. When she arrives, they go out of their way to
show her that they are open-minded about all cultures. Soon,
their progressive agenda is called into question. Are they really
understanding, progressive thinkers or academic conformists who are
willing to do anything to win tenure? They find that the road
to a world where we can “imagine” no countries and
“nothing to kill or die for” won’t be as easy as
they thought.

The cast of “Forgiving John Lennon” includes UB
students Ashley Wurtz, Catherine Espinal, Mike Dempsey and
Giancarlo Gioia.

Tickets for Forgiving John Lennon are $20 for general admission
and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the CFA
box office and through tickets.com.